The year is 2178 and the galaxy is evolving at an alarming pace. Years ago, human scientists introduced a new technology, the “Hyper-drive”, which vastly improved interstellar travel, but instead of forging closer bonds throughout the galaxy, communication between civilizations has ground to a halt. Colonization and a battle for supremacy have become the primary goals but only one race can dominate…and survive. Strategy First has released a new trailer showing off what this game is all about. Read more for download links ...

For those of you who have finished Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and are craving a fix of your favorite Xbox game: WAIT NO MORE! Beginning today (and NOT yesterday like some other places reported), you can revisit the tense stealth-action of Splinter Cell by simply downloading the Kola Cell mission for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell from Xbox Live--at no additional charge. But be forewarned! This mission is tough. Real tough. Ubi Soft's Montreal team put a lot of thought into how to best test the skills of the most creative Splinter Cell players. We invite you to guide Sam Fisher through a Georgian warehouse, find cyber-terrorist Philip Masse's computer terminal and steal a sample code. Just don't get caught. If you do, the United States government will disavow any knowledge of your existence.

Mindware Studios has completed its first demo for Cold War and will soon be seeking a publisher for the game during the next few months. Cold War will put the player in the role of Chaser Jones, an American reporter caught in a web of intrigue and conspiracy in the Soviet Union during the 80's. The game will emphasize stealth (much like IGI2 and other recent tactical shooters), and will take you to Eastern European historical settings such as the Red Square, Chernobyl and Baikonur. Check these new screens ...

Syberia II, the sequel of the 2002 Adventure Game of The year, is currently in development at the developer/publisher Montreal-based studios. Microïds is also excited to release today the first images, screenshots and artworks, of Syberia II. The game will be released in the Fall of 2003. Check out these new screens ...

Pirates is broadband only, with high-end hardware specifications for graphics -- a GeForce 3 or better is required in at least a 1GHZ machine, and the game is optimized for the latest DirectX 9.0-class cards. Pirates is being published on-line directly to gamers using Valve's new Steam technology. This is the same delivery system used by Half-Life 2 and Counterstrike 2. Check out the new seaworthy screens ...

MotoGP 2 for Xbox and Xbox Live! offers eight different racing modes including: Stunt, GP, time trial, Training challenges, tag, Live, multi-player & single race, customizable bikes and all of the riders from the real 2002 MotoGP class. Players can create custom riders and race them online at 60 frames per second with up to 16 riders on one track during a single race. Players can also utilize Microsoft's online voice communication to talk trash with the nearest competitor at speeds that will make their voices crack and their knees buckle.

Noted on Bluesnews that the Project Magma Website now offers a new version 1.3.2 patch for Myth II as their first update to Bungie's strategy game, adding carbonization to allowing Myth II to run natively under OS X and a fix for the flashing cursor bug that appears for users of Direct 3D under Windows 2000/XP. "Other improvements include improved keyboard and mouse responsiveness and reduced chat lag. Myth II v1.3.2 is entirely backwards compatible with Myth II v1.3." All this paves the way for their planned release of version 1.4, which will offer significant changes and improvements to the game. Read more for download links ...

Today several trailers for various games were released. Instead of giving them all their own post, we grouped them and so far there are trailers for :

• XIII (UbiSoft)
• Humvee Assault (Infogrames)
• Line Of Sight : Vietnam (Infogrames)
• Splinter Cell PS2 Intro (UbiSoft)
• Lock On (UbiSoft)
• Tom & Jerry : War Of The Whiskers (UbiSoft)
  
  Read more for download links ...

Hunter: The Reckoning returns to the Xbox with even more frenetic multi-player action than the original game. Based on the gothic fantasy world of White Wolf's pen and paper RPG system, players act as human monster-hunters combining melee, ranged and spell-driven attacks. In Hunter: The Reckoning - Redeemer, the hunt continues as a new Hunter joins the original team of 4 in their fight to save the citizens of Ashcroft from a twisted plot to take over the innocent town. Players battle against hordes of supernatural enemies in single-or multi-player mode - they do whatever it takes to get the job done.